"Aric!"
Elias rushed over and checked Aric's pulse. He exhaled a breath of relief when he felt that there was a pulse. He carefully carried Aric on his back, wanting to bring him to safety.
On the other side, Artemis was still fighting against the last remaining mutated rogue. At that time, the rogue still had the upper hand as he managed to deflect the blows from the former and counter with his powerful ones.
After battling with other rogues and warlocks before the mutated rogues came, it was obvious as to why Artemis was getting tired. But he can't be defeated now when his son is still in danger. And his packmates were getting tired as well. He did not dare to call his other packmates lest they might get hurt in this battle. It was selfish of him but as an Alpha, it was his duty to protect his pack.
Wounds continued to materialise on Artemis' body but it did not stop him from trying to defeat the rogue.
A crazy glint appeared in the rogue's eyes as he became drunk in the fight. Spittle flew out from his mouth as blows continued to exchange between the two shifters.
After managing to arrive safely near to where Skoll was laid down, Elias asked for the Cesaro packmates to help protect Aric while he tried to help Artemis.
Without any hesitation, they agreed and made more effort to attack the other rogues and warlocks. It was fortunate that the numbers of their opponents seem to be decreasing.
Since the wolfsbane crystals have been completely destroyed, Paccia has more opportunity to assist the others.
Una was battling two of the warlocks when Paccia came over to help her. It did not take much time before the two females to succeed in killing the warlocks.
The battle slowly began to turn to the Kendall and Cesaro packs' favour.
Excluding the mutated rogue, the others were not that difficult to dispose of.
After a couple of hours have passed, only a few rogues and the mutated rogue were left to fight against. All the other warlocks had either escaped or killed.
Artemis and Elias were fighting against the mutated rogue at that moment. Seeing how the rogue was getting stronger and stronger, they were at a stalemate. The other packmates, which included Una, though, went to finish off the other few rogues.
Paccia was sitting between the two unconscious shifters; Skoll and Aric. By looking at Skoll's wounds, she can conclude that it wasn't that serious. The reason as to why he was still knocked out was probably due to the wolfsbane crystals, which she could see on his body. All she needed to do was to remove all the wolfsbane crystals and he can heal normally.
It was no wonder as to why it seems that he has inhaled a lot of the crystals' powers since other than Artemis, the crystals were near him more.
After she was done examining Skoll, it was time to check on Aric. Paccia's face turned grim. Even though he was still alive, she was not sure how 'alive' he would become. His legs were unrecognizable where inner flesh could be seen and the veins were severely ruined. It was short of a miracle that he was still alive. And his right arm was chopped off. It was unsure whether it could be healed or not.
Paccia was facing a difficult situation at that moment. She was only a seer. Although she knows basic medic and healing skills, it was not to this extent.
While she was trying to do the best she could to heal and cure Aric, or at most, to ensure he would not become worse, Artemis and Elias were still fighting against the mutated rogue when they sensed something was coming. Or rather, someone.
Despite them being tired and getting weaker, it does not mean that their senses have fluctuated as well. Hence why Artemis and Elias were becoming more alert and cautious.
The scent that they smell from where they were was not something that they welcomed. It was repulsive, nothing like the scent of their packmates. It was then they knew that the one that was approaching them was not a friend.
Artemis was exchanging blows with the rogue when he suddenly jumped aside.
In mere seconds, there was a loud explosion where Artemis stood earlier. The explosion wasn't that big but it wasn't that small either as it created a small hollow on the ground, sending dirt and dust flying in the air.
Both Artemis and Elias took a few steps back, covering their mouth and snout with their arms to protect themselves from the dust.
Just a few metres away from there, shrouded by the flying dust and dirt, there was a figure approaching them. The figure looked male, tall and lean. It looked as if he was wearing a long overcoat with the garment floating behind him.
When the dust and dirt finally settled, a man could be seen walking leisurely towards Artemis and Elias. And before the two shifters could react, the man was already in front of them.
Both Artemis and Elias' eyes widened in surprise at the speed that the man showed.
The man looked up at Artemis with a cold look on his face. Although he was more than a foot shorter than the Alpha, the intimidating height did not frighten the man.
Artemis growled. "Who the feck are you?"
The man flicked his wrist and suddenly, Artemis was thrown aside. Luckily, the latter was fast as he managed to jump upright on his paws. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at the man. This does not bode well for them. He could sense that the man was very powerful. Even more powerful than the mutated rogue.
"Lord Rehan," the mutated rogue growled. Artemis and Elias were surprised to hear that there was a bit of fear laced in the rogue's tone.
The two shifters immediately went into full alert and on guard as they watched the man, whom the mutated rogue called, 'Lord Rehan', slowly turned around to face him. From the powers that he had used against Artemis, he could tell that the man was a warlock. A very strong one.
With a sweep of his glance over the mutated rogue, Artemis and Elias were not sure what had happened but the mutated rogue suddenly screamed in pain and fell on his knees.
"What happened to the other two?" Rehan asked, his hands in his pockets, looking down at the rogue.
Behind the two shifters, Paccia and the others could sense something bad was going to happen. After the arrival of the mysterious man, the tension in the atmosphere thickened that one could cut it with a knife.
"They were killed," the rogue struggled to answer. It was as if there was something pushing him down to the ground and it was hard for him to get up.
Rehan snorted in disdain. "Useless," he said.
He turned back to Artemis and Elias who were staring back at him cautiously.
"We've finally met, Alpha of the Cesaro and Beta of the Kendall."
-----
Both the warlock and shifter looked at each other; one was scowling while the other had a huge grin on his face. The latter seems to be having fun as he had gotten used to his powers.
Blood continued to drip down Krys' cheeks. His eyes were blazing in fury as he looked at Dane. If looks could kill, Dane would have been stabbed a million times by now.
Behind Dane, Kaius was slowly waking up as the wounds on his body healed, much to Rea's relief.
Wanting to wipe the grin off his face, Krys quickly chanted more spells against the smug shifter.
Spells after spells were cast, sending continuous attacks towards the shifter.
However, with his nearly recovered powers, Dane's senses became stronger as he agilely avoided each attack.
At one point where Krys had sent a flaming ball at Dane, the latter, instead of avoiding it, slammed the ball down, oblivious to the burn it caused him, and jumped.
Before Krys could react, Dane had kicked him on the chest, sending the former flying across the area, crashing into some of the trees. The tree where he crashed at, broke into two.
Not wanting to give the warlock a chance to recover, Dane suddenly appeared by Krys' side. He grabbed the unwinded young man's leg and swung him, flinging him towards where the mansion was.
Krys flew once more, still feeling dizzy. Before he could fall down to the ground, just before the mansion, Dane had already grabbed him by the neck.
He pulled Krys back and putting more power in his arm, Dane slammed the young warlock against the wall of the mansion.
The wall then crashed under pressure, creating a hole.
Seeing the young warlock was unconscious, Dane cricked his neck and said, "That's it?"